Australia under pressure from USA in Trans Pacific Partnership talks
Such a clause would allow companies who believed an Australian law had harmed their ability to invest in Australia to take their dispute to an extranational body with the power to overrule local laws.
Philip Morris International is trying to use such a clause in the Australia-Hong Kong investment treaty to declare invalid the plain cigarette packaging law that came into force on December 1.
Free trade talks to avoid legal hurdle http://www.theage.com.au/business/free-trade-talks-to-avoid-legal-hurdle-20121202-2aoyt.html#ixzz2E26mKulE December 3, 2012 Peter Martin NEGOTIATIONS over what’s set to be the world’s biggest free trade agreement resume in Auckland this week, with the Australian government insisting the contentious proposal for foreign companies to sue governments will stay off the table.
But non-government observers say aspects of the proposed powers are likely to be incorporated in the words of the agreement to be refined by officials.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership will encompass 11 states from all edges of the Pacific – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam – with Japan considering joining at a later stage.
The Australian government has said it will not be party to the agreement if it includes a so-called investor-state disputes
settlement clause, something insisted on by the US and obtained in each one of its free trade agreements apart from the one with Australia. Continue reading
Australia in desperate need of a culture of belonging to nature
Nature and Culture in Australia, Bonzer, by Paul Newbury, Dec 12, In the colonisation of Australia by the British, the connection between Indigenous people and their land was severed and the land bears the scars of their dispossession. In the Indigenous worldview, land has spiritual meaning; nature and culture are inseparable; and the health of the natural environment and that of its people are intimately connected—our wellbeing is influenced by the degree in
which we are actively involved in caring for the earth.
This is a conceptual framework that can promote holistic responses to climate change and other environmental challenges. British settler invaders brought the western concept of ‘taming nature’ with them and it is now embedded in Australian culture. The following are imperatives that arise from differences in perception between western culture and Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
1 Relationship with the environment: We need to develop a set of values – an ethical basis for relating to the natural world that inspires the nation to develop a sustainable economy and way of life.
Over eons the Indigenous peoples of this land attained a heightened eco-consciousness through developing relationships with plant and animal species in totemic systems.
2 Human habitat: the survival of our species depends on an acknowledgement that an organism cannot be known separate to its natural environment. Continue reading
Labor-Liberal coalition refuse to study dangers of uranium transport
29 November 2012. Labor and the Coalition stood united today in their strenuous effort to completely ignore the dangers posed by uranium mining and transport.
Australian Greens nuclear policy spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the major parties “defied logic and decency” by refusing to support an inquiry into the uranium industry.
“With no fewer than three states pushing for uranium mining we need an inquiry into the existing laws governing the industry; yet the major parties studiously keep their heads in the sand.
“You’d assume the ALP and Coalition would want to know if our regulations properly protect the public from radiation exposure from uranium oxide transport – but it appears that’s not the case. Continue reading
Opposition continuing to pursue Lynas rare earths project in Malaysia
”They will continue to pursue the judicial review cases to get the court to revoke the temporary licence given to Lynas on the grounds that Lynas still has no safe solution to tackle their radioactive waste,’
Lynas plant on line, protests to continue, SMH December 1, 2012 Glenda Kwek A MALAYSIAN environment group says it plans to continue campaigning for the closure of Lynas’ controversial rare-earths processing plant, as the Australian miner announced it had started production. Continue reading
Woodend Integrated Sustainable Energy sets the pace for Victorian community wind energy
Insight: How communities can take lead in green energy REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 30 November 2012 This is the second in a series looking more deeply into issues which affect the development of the clean energy industry in Australia. The first was on the 2kms set-back rule imposed by the Victorian government and at least partially adopted in NSW.
For the past 12 months, a digital display located behind the counter of the newsagent in High Street in the Victorian town of Woodend has logged what Barry Mann describes as a major lost opportunity. Real time data 
from a wind mast located in an old timber mill a few kilometres out of town documents the amount of electricity that would have been produced if a proposal to install three wind turbines in a harvested pine forest 6kms from town had been allowed to go ahead.
Before the mast was taken down earlier this month: the data stood at this: 12.6 gigawatt hours of electricity generated over 12 months and four days (12.630 million kilowatt hours) – about enough electricity to satisfy the needs of 2,037 homes and generate $1.5 million in revenue from selling the electrons to the grid. (You can find the data on their website)
Mann is a director of WISE (Woodend Integrated Sustainable Energy) – a local not-for-profit group that says its goal is to ”assist communities to take responsibility for their energy and carbon future.” It is one of dozens of similar groups in Australia that are hoping to implement their own local plans, but don’t have so many electrons to show for it yet.
For the moment, Woodend’s own plans have been frustrated by the election of the Baillieu Conservative government, and the introduction of a 2km setback ruling and the declaration of a “no-go” zone through large slabs of the Mt Macedon ranges – two initiatives that local member Donna Petrovich is proud to take responsibility for. (See addendum below) Continue reading
Protests in Sydney: ‘Australian uranium fuelled Fukushima,’ , ‘BHP, Dirty Deeds’.
Uranium, LNG protests mar BHP AGM, http://m.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/uranium-lng-protests-mar-bhp-agm/story-e6frg9df-1226526641056 SARAH-JANE TASKER, November 29, 2012
BHP Billiton’s annual general meeting in Sydney today was the scene of vocal protests against the uranium assets of the world’s largest miner.
Four abseilers managed to scale Sydney’s Convention Centre and hang two banners, one with the message, ‘Australian uranium fuelled Fukushima,’ in reference to Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster. The other banner read, ‘BHP, Dirty Deeds’.
Police riot squad and rescue officers attended the scene in Darling Harbour, where about 40 people gathered to protest against the miner. Various groups were concerned by uranium, coal seam gas and James Price Point, the $40 billion LNG joint venture project which BHP has a minority interest in.
At the start of the meeting, attended by around 600 shareholders, a vocal protester shouted her protests against uranium from the back of the room, following an address by chief executive Marius Kloppers.
Police at the scene today told AAP they expected to charge the abseilers.
A Friends of the Earth spokeswoman said the first pair of activists had been brought down by a police rescue team and taken to Surry Hills police station. The last two had climbed back onto the roof voluntarily and had not yet been detained, she said.
One of the groups was distributing an alternative annual report, Dirty Deeds, which was distributed to shareholders. The report focuses on the uranium and copper mine at Olympic Dam, South Australia, and the James Price Point project in Western Australia.
Additional reporting: AAP
Australian Senate defeats motion regarding the safety of uranium transport
Today, 29 November, senator Ludlam moved this motion on the safety of uranium transport. It was defeated in the Senate
That the following matter be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee for inquiry and report by 30 June 2013:
The role, adequacy and effectiveness of government regulation of uranium oxide transport, including:
a. the mitigation of public radiation exposure from uranium oxide transport;
b. the evaluation of the frequency and severity of transport and handling accidents including the 27 December 2011 train derailment resulting in toxic copper concentrate flowing into the Edith River;
c. the process of issuing and auditing compliance with transport radiation management plans;
d. the resourcing and conduct of transport related aspects of nuclear actions referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC);
e. the preparedness and resourcing of regional emergency contingency planning, education and training services;
f. the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency Codes, including the Code of Practice for Safe Transport of Radioactive Material;
g. the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office regulation of the transportation of nuclear material and issuance and auditing of compliance with transport permits;
h. other relevant related matters.
Uranium enthusiast Kloppers not top of the pops at BHP
Kloppers hot topic at BHP’s AGM, The Age, November 29, 2012 Peter Ker THE tenure of BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers is expected to dominate the company’s annual meeting with Australian shareholders in Sydney on Thursday.
Proxy advisers have given the company a clean bill of health while big shareholders are also much happier about the level of consultation with investors than they were a year ago, meaning Mr Kloppers’ future looms as the elephant in the room.
Environmental and social activists have flocked to Sydney ahead of the event, with social media suggesting some have travelled from South America and Papua New Guinea. PNG is home to the Ok Tedi copper mine that BHP handed over more than a decade ago after an environmental controversy.
Speaking in Canberra on Wednesday, PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said BHP was still influencing the fund that now controls Ok Tedi, and urged the company to keep its distance. ”There is no longer a valid reason for it to continue to exercise any control over the board appointments to that fund,” he said…. http://www.theage.com.au/business/kloppers-hot-topic-at-bhps-agm-20121128-2aeaw.html#ixzz2DdqSKbxG
Toro Energy has to work hard to get financing for Wiluna uranium project
Toro pushes back financing on Wiluna ninemsn 29 Nov 12Toro Energy has pushed back financing negotiations for its proposed Wiluna uranium mine in Western Australia, as it waits for the federal government to decide the fate of the project. The move comes a month after WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion granted final environmental approval
for the state’s first uranium mine, in the Mid-West region.
Development can go ahead if Mr Marmion’s federal counterpart, Tony Burke, gives it the nod and the company’s board makes a final decision to proceed.
Managing director Greg Hall said the company anticipated a decision from Mr Burke by the end of the year after the minister delayed his decision by 30 days. “We anticipate it will take longer to secure a financing arrangement and hence it will take longer to make that investment decision in late 2013, Continue reading
Aboriginal run anti uranium organisation, from the bush to Toro Energy’s board room
A delegate from the West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance* will attend the Toro Annual General Meeting today in Adelaide to raise local concerns about their proposed Wiluna uranium mine in WA.
Vicki McCabe from Leonora and the WANFA committee said “We have fought against uranium mining in WA for a long time. We don’t want uranium mining on our country and want no part in the nuclear industry, not now not ever.”
“This country is far away from Perth or Adelaide, but it is our home. The Government say uranium is too dangerous to go through Fremantle, or Geraldton – Toro want to truck uranium right past my house in Leonora. If uranium is not good enough for Fremantle then it’s not good enough for the Goldfields.
Kado Muir, WANFA chairperson and Ngalia man from south of Wiluna said “When we’ve asked for assurance from Toro Energy that there won’t be any damage to the country they can’t provide it. Toro say to the Traditional Owners that if things go wrong they can sue them. That is no assurance that is a slap in the face.”
“Communities are stuck between a rock and a hard place – Native Title doesn’t allow you to stop an unwanted development on your country but it forces people into consultation. Companies like Toro are interested in ticking boxes and looking good but what they’re really doing is dividing and rail roading” concluded Mr Muir.
*WANFA is an Aboriginal run organisation representing communities across WA who are concerned about uranium mining. www.wanfa.org.au
Australia’s renewable energy development being sabotaged by Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland govts
“South Australia’s wind energy per capita is higher than any major country in the world and wind is now contributing approximately 26% of the state’s total electricity production,” the report said.
“At the state level, we have seen Victoria, NSW and Queensland putting in place policies to hold back renewable energy. In Victoria, it’s now almost impossible to build a new wind farm, so severe are the restrictions on siting,” he said.
“NSW has followed Victoria’s unfortunate lead to some degree and all three states have cut back on feed-in tariffs for residential renewable energy.”
Renewable energy sector grows but barriers remain http://theconversation.edu.au/renewable-energy-sector-grows-but-barriers-remain-10986 Sunanda Creagh, 28 Nov 12 Energy production must shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources within four decades to avoid the most damaging consequences of climate change, a government report has found.
The Climate Commission’s report on the state of the sustainable energy market, titled The Critical Decade: Generating a renewable Australia, was released as world leaders gathered forglobal climate talks in Doha this week. Continue reading
In depressing uranium market, Australian uranium companies freeze development
Frozen: Uranium exploration on hold North West Star, Nov. 28, 2012 A GLOBALLY weak uranium mining price had led to a development freeze from Valhalla’s exploration company, but they insist the long-term outlook remain positive.
Paladin Energy, the company which is exploring uranium at the Valhalla deposit 40 kilometres North West of Mount Isa, recorded recent losses and frozen development due to the weak uranium price. In a statement, Paladin Energy said it would require a sustainable uranium price, at or above $81.78 Australian dollars per pound to warrant any further expansion or new mine development.
The current uranium price is $41.75 Australian dollars per pound.
Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia expects to post a full-year loss of between $135 million and $155 million this year, blaming difficult market conditions for the cuts…..
The long-term outlook may not be so bleak with an independent investment researcher claiming there is promise. Senior independent researcher Claire Aitchison said uranium demand was supported by 63 new reactors under construction, 18 reactors undergoing power capacity upgrades and the anticipation of more Japanese reactors coming back online following the Fukushima incident.
However she warned another disaster on the scale of Fukushima could have a significant impact on the nuclear industry.
Solar power success is putting the brakes on gas-fired electricity in South Australia
Solar Helps Delay South Australian Peaking Power Plant http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3489by Energy Matters, 27 Nov 12 Construction of a gas-fired power station at Tepko near Mannum in South Australia has been put on the backburner again; thanks in part to the state’s solar households. Continue reading
Secret Labor and Liberal plans to gut Australia’s environmental laws
Minister Burke: Don’t hand your powers to the states 22 Oct 2012 | Larissa Waters In April this year, a special meeting of big business leaders hijacked a meeting of state and federal governments (COAG). They demanded the weakening of Australia’s environment laws.
Now the Labor and Liberal parties are preparing to do just that. Secret discussions are now underway to gut our national environment laws by giving away the Environment Minister’s approval powers to state governments.
Our environment is under attack like never before. If environmentprotection were left to the states, they would have dammed the Franklin River, put oil rigs in the Great Barrier Reef and built Traveston Dam.
This December, the state Premiers and the Prime Minister will meet again at COAG to take the next step to gut Australia’s environment laws before final sign off at a meeting in March 2013. Before this happens, tell the Labor and Liberal parties not to gut Australia’s environment laws. Continue reading
Broken Hill’s exciting future as Australia’s first renewable energy town
Most rural communities are dying – this is a town that has the potential to move forward.
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Broken Hill a frontrunner in renewable energy adoption ABC Radio AM Margaret Paul reported this story on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 …
DARRIEA TURLEY: There is a possibility that Broken Hill could be the first town that would live on renewable energy, that would be sustained by renewable energy. No other town has done that.
MARGARET PAUL: Broken Hill’s acting Mayor is Darriea Turley.
She’s excited that Broken Hill is set to become home to two major renewable energy projects.
The first, a photovoltaic solar farm, is set to produce 125,000 megawatt hours of electricity every year – enough to power 17,000 homes.
The second is a wind farm to be developed at nearby Silverton that could power as many as 43,000 homes. Continue reading
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